Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-06-10
THE MIGHT DOCTOR
A SINGULAR SUPERSTITION AMONG
WASHINGTON NEGROES.

l
4 Myth Traceable to the Traditions OF
Barbarism-Freedom and Social EQUAL
ity Among the Colored People of the
Capital.
Il heard the night doctor go by last night
| and knew the boy would die before morn
ing" said an old Washington darby once to
the writer. And when I asked him who the
night doctor was he rolled up his eyes in the
most painful manner to behold, shook his
head and muttered some gibberish which I
| could not understand and made some queer
| motions with his hands. Among o certain
grade OF negroes in Washington, particularly
| those who drifted there after the war from
the extreme south, there prevails supersti
ton that is as ominous for them as the death
tick used to be for the ignorant peasants of
England. 1t is that there rushes through the
street at midnight a supernatural being,
formed like a man, having long, hook like
fingers and poisonous breath, and that
whenever he turns and breathes upon house
where child lies sick the child is doomed to
death before another night. 1t is not ominous
to one to hear the night doctor, as this being
death of child the negroes get together and
ask who Of them heard the night doctor pass
by. Some one is sure to assert that he or she
heard the low, moaning, rushing sound made
by the night doctors quick flight. But it is
regarded as surely fatal sign if any one sees
the night DOCTOR
THE NIGHT DOCTOR COMING.
Sometimes at midnight darkies who are on
the street will suddenly turn their faces to a
wall and stand with their hands over their
eyes for some moments. They have fancied
that they have heard the night doctor coming,
and they believe that if their eyes rest upon
him he will turn and blow his malodorous
blast upon them and that death will surely
speedily follow. These people are singularly
reluctant, too, to speak to any one but those
OF their own superstition about the night
doctor, and if they are tempted to say any
thing they speak with undoubted manifesto |
ton OF terror. l once heard an old colored |
man who was head waiter at one of the hotels
say that he knew that q man of whom in |
qulred would not recover from his sickness
because the night before he was taken he had |
seen the night doctor go flying through the |
streets. The man did die in a day or two, and |
had been dying for year with consumption,
but no reasoning could persuade these colored |
people that he was inevitably doomed before
ne had the vision Of the night doctor. But
the victims of this creature are children, ex-
cept when an adult sets bis eyes on it, and
there occurs no death among the children,
according to their belief, which was not on
the night before indicated by the passage of
The night doctor. The myth seems to be
traceable to tradition brought by the ances-
tors of these people from Africa.
The W ashingtOn negroes offer most inter.
estlng opportunities for study of the effects of
freedom and political equality, and it is not
altogether encouraging for those who looked
or rapid and happy development VIXEN the
,olored people had equal chances with the
whites. Most Of them have learned to be
hrlfty, or at least to rely upon daily work
or support. Laziness does not prevail among
hem to the extent that it does further south.
there are more opportunities for making and
aving money in Washington for these people
han anywhere else in the country, although .
he negro population is one-third that Of the
ity, and no city in the United States has
anger colored population. They are very
enacious OF their civil rights, especially in
ubllc, on the horse cars, in the theatres and
t the Capitol. They are very anxious to
wn homes. and they are divided into social
cts with as much rigor, if not by stricter
mes, than the white people of the city. The
oal black negro despises the mulatto, while ,
ne mulatto is disposed to snub the pure
looded African. But they are all clannish,
nd are most abjeet imitators of the white
eople, even in the matter of social etiquette,
nd are slaves to superstitions as much as
ley ever were upon the plantations, though
lany of them strive to conceal this trait.